Report: Cavs close to a DeAndre Jordan trade but opted for Lakers package

Before the Cleveland Cavaliers opted to trade Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye and a first round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers, they were in serious trade discussions with the Los Angeles Clippers for DeAndre Jordan.

Jordan would have added a necessary element of rim protection that the Cavs currently lack. But the cost of getting him likely would have been much higher and also, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, more complicated.

“There were people in the league who thought there was traction towards the Cavs making a deal with the Clippers yesterday morning,” said Brian Windhorst on The Lowe Post (h/t Real GM). “The reason people thought that was because there were other teams who were engaged in trade talks with pieces that would have spun off from that trade.

“So it got to the point where the Cavs and Clippers felt like they were close enough to some sort of agreement with each other that they could begin looking to bring in third teams and that’s why I know about it.

“The Cavs and Clippers got some distance down the road with DeAndre Jordan. At a certain point, the Cavs elected not to make the deal with the Clippers and instead made the deal with the Lakers. Maybe that was for a hundred different reasons we’ll never know. Maybe it was because in addition to negotiating with the Clippers, they had to negotiate with DeAndre Jordan, because he has a contract situation and if he was traded, he would have wanted to get an extension alongside of it.”

So, Jordan would have wanted to sign an extension had he gotten traded to the Cavs which would have made things more complicated. Jordan is about to turn 30 years old and he relies heavily on athleticism. While it would have certainly helped the Cavs get through the Eastern Conference playoffs, he likely would not have played much against the Warriors if the Cavs can meet them in the Finals again.

He also isn’t the type of player they’d likely want to build around in the event this latest experiment fails to retain the services of LeBron James. He isn’t a shot creator, he’s not a particularly good passer and he also can’t play late in games due to the fact teams will intentionally foul him down the stretch.

Instead, the Cavs decided to go with the package the Lakers got them that also helped set up the Lakers for a run at LeBron this summer by giving them the ability to clear space for two max contracts. But due to several factors, it was evidently the right move for the Cavs in their present and future.

Acquiring Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson, while not at all on the same level of Jordan, gives them younger players who will likely continue to improve. They have positional versatility and athleticism to stay on the court against teams the Cavs will need to beat in the playoffs like Boston and Toronto.

It was one of several moves the Cavs made on Thursday and perhaps that time of variety is what they needed rather than attaching themselves to a player with a bigger name. It seems like they learned their lesson from the failure of the Kyrie Irving trade and instead chose to build youthfully and sustainably now and in the future.

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